IWA West Midlands Region, Navigation Magasine , Autumn 2012

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Kings Norton Stop Lock

Issue No. 2012-3

Autumn 2012

The IWA is a national organisation and campaigns for the conservation, use, maintenance, restoration and development of the Inland Waterways.

For administrative purposes, England and Wales are divided up into eight ‘Regions’. One of these is the West Midlands Region.

This Region, like all the others, has a Region Committee that meets regularly, presided over by a Region Chairman.

The current Chairman of the West Midlands Region is Vaughan Welch.

Meetings are timed to take place shortly after “board meetings” of the Trustees and other national sub-committees that coordinate the running of the Association.

Trustees and representatives of the other national committees present at the Region meeting can pass down information from the recent national get-togethers and by this means communications are cascaded down, eventually to members at monthly branch meetings and socials, etc.

Regions and Branches Regions are sub-divided into a number of branches.

There are 34 Branches in all.

West Midland Region

branches :

is divided into four

• Birmingham, Black Country and Worcestershire Branch.

• Lichfield Branch.

• Stoke Branch.

• Warwickshire Branch.

Navigation West Midlands Region communicates directly with its members through this quarterly magazine - Navigation.

Stoke Branch also produce three copies per year of their longstanding publication; ‘Knobsticks’. This is circulated to members of the Stoke Branch.

2.

Autumn 2012

Navigation 2012/2 Page 4 5 6 7-9 10 - 11 12 13 14 - 16 17 18 19 20 21 - 22 23 24 25 26 27

Contents Item

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Rebranding as CRT BCN Clean-up Droitwich Spa Festival Canal & River Trust CRT so far . . .

CRT Response on Lock Tail Bridges Letter Social Events Stourbridge Navigation Trust Open Weekend BCNS Bonfire Region Chairman Achievement Award Stoke Branch Chairman Lichfield Branch Chairman L&HCRT digging up Darnford Park Warwickshire Branch Chairman Editor Contacts

Cover photo shows Kings Norton Stop Lock - see back cover for more.

We try to avoid unnecessary repetition of items printed in other waterways publications, but certain important issues may be mentioned to increase awareness.

The IWA may not agree with opinions expressed in this magazine but encourages publication as a matter of interest.

Nothing printed may be construed as policy, or as an official pronouncement, unless specifically identified as such.

‘Navigation’ has been in continuous publication for over 50 years.

We aim to bring readers a variety of items of local interest, news of forthcoming events and provide a local contact with IWA. The Association accepts no liability for any matter published in this magazine, including adverts. No reproduction is permitted without acknowledgement.

We would like to thank contributors of photographs for providing their property for publication.

WRG stands for Waterways Recovery Group, a subsidiary of the IWA. The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) is a registered charity No. 212342.

IWA Registered Office : Island House, Moor Road, Chesham HP5 1WA. Tel 01494 783453 Printed by Colour Image Printers, 7 Derehams Lane, High Wycombe, Bucks HP10 9RH

Autumn 2012

3.

Rebranding to Canal & River Trust IWA Birmingham, Black Country and Worcestershire Branch have been assisting the Canal & River Trust with their rebranding process.

Branch Chairman, Dave Pearson, has been leading a small team of branch volunteers in this project to replace the old British Waterways logo with the new Canal & River Trust logo on signage in certain popular spots around the West Midlands waterway area.

This is part of a Canal & River Trust project to use volunteers to eventually replace the logo on all signs across the network. Warwickshire members are carrying out similar work at Hatton.

Photos by David Struckett.

Restrictions during Conservative Party Conference At the rear of the International Conference Centre in Birmingham where the Main Line approaches Broad Street Tunnel, there were restrictions to passage, on foot and by boat, while the Conservative Party Conference was taking place.

The photographs shows branch volunteers, including Dave Pearson, applying vinyl signs around Stourport basins.

4.

From 6th to 10th October, the towpath on the ICC side was closed and boats wishing to navigate from Gas Street Basin to the turn by the National Indoor Arena, in both directions, were subjected to a security search by officers and a dog. It was advisable for boaters to pencil in a half hour delay.

Autumn 2012

Inland Waterways Association and Birmingham Canal Navigations Society volunteers helping out Canal & River Trust IWA Birmingham, Black Country & Worcestershire Branch held a successful clean up, in conjunction with the BCN Society, at Bentley Bridge on the Wyrley & Essington Canal on Saturday 11th August.

Volunteers cleared the basin (which is the end of the former Bentley Canal) of rubbish, repainted the bridge handrails and carried out some vegetation clearance.

Bentley Bridge

Volunteers removing rubbish from the canal

The improvements had an immediate effect in that a boat moored in the basin overnight.

Autumn 2012

Both photos are by David Struckett.

5.

Droitwich Spa Summer Festival and Boat Gathering Droitwich Spa Summer Festival and Boat Gathering at the end of June provided locals and visitors alike with a great event with activities throughout the town from Victoria square to Vines Park Unfortunately, in what is reportedly the wettest June since records began, the boat gathering, organised by Droitwich Waterways (Pamela May) Trust, was hit by amber and red alerts on the Severn which led to the closure of both Diglis and Hawford locks. Many boats were unable to travel up to the Spa and a number of boats, that had intending to travel through the town were trapped there over the week-end. There were also alerts on the Salwarp at times during the week-end which deterred people from coming down from the north.

However in true British tradition everyone made the best of the situation and all the boaters were full of praise for the events provided by the Trust with many promising to come back next year.

Boaters joined locals and visitors at the first class entertainment, which took place in the marquee in Vines Park, from Friday to Sunday night. Some people who had been unable to bring their boats came in by car. Throughout the week-end a range of fun activities for youngsters, including a very popular climbing wall, was provided.

Some boats took part in the ‘boat steering competition’ which was a great success despite the reduced number of boats available. Boats took it in turns to manoeuvre a ‘three point turn’ in the barge lock basin. The objective was to turn in the shortest time possible without hitting the banks of the canal. The winning boat was ‘Autumn Years’ crewed by its owners Richard and Cathy Facer, with a time of 3 min.25 secs. runner up was ‘Dire Straits’ crewed by its owners Jenn & Jim Thornell in 5 min.7 secs.

This activity was enjoyed by both those taking part and the many spectators.

Extreme right : Cathy Facer of n.b.

Autumn Years.

Winner of In Boat Award Pam Davey, Chairman of Droitwich Waterways (Pamela May) Trust, second from right, “We very much appreciated all the hard work put in to this event by the festival partners and DWT volunteers.”

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Autumn 2012

Canal & River Trust – Structure The structure of the Canal & River Trust (CRT for short please, not CART) is complicated. We thought it might be helpful to try to explain it and to say what powers and duties the various bodies and committees have.

Trustees

As with all charities the Trustees are ultimately responsible in law for the management of the charity. The initial eleven Trustees were appointed as ‘Transition Trustees’ by DEFRA until they were formally appointed ‘en bloc’ by the Council at its first meeting on March 28th. They will retire by rotation and in future they will be elected by the Council.

They meet frequently and have executive powers, overseeing the management of the company. Trustees are unpaid but may claim expenses.

Directors and Management

These are responsible for the day-to-day management of the Trust, maintenance of the system, management of the property assets etc. They are largely the previous British Waterways management team who have now transferred over to the new Charity. Under employment law (Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment – TUPE - Regulations) under a restructuring such as this all employees, including directors, transfer over with the same employment terms etc to their new employer.

It has recently been announced that one senior director will retire, his responsibilities being added to the portfolio of another with a suitably adjusted salary package, and some other senior directors’ remuneration packages will Autumn 2012

be reduced to levels that are deemed more appropriate to a charity. CRT is retaining the basic area structure of the old BW for the time being, but this may change, for example on the incorporation of Environment Agency navigations into the CRT structure.

Council

The Council’s role is principally advisory: debating strategy, raising significant issues of concern, and being a ‘sounding board’. It also has limited (but important) constitutional duties in that it appoints the Trustees and acts as the guardian of the long-term values of the charity. It is anticipated that it will meet twice a year although it has already met three times in 2012, the last meeting in late September. Some members of the Council, for example boaters and trade representatives, are elected and some are nominated by interest groups such as the Ramblers, Sustrans, the Wildlife Trusts and the Local Government Association. It currently consists of 35 members but that number may increase as constitutions not presently covered are identified and suitable representation has been found.

Technical Advisory Committees

Initially there are six Technical Advisory Committees: Navigation (sub divided into navigation and licensing matters), Heritage, Freight, Environment, Angling and Volunteering. These are purely advisory, and meet as required.

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Canal & River Trust – Structure Area Partnerships

Each CRT Waterway Area has its own Partnership Committee under a Chairman who is also a member of the Council. There is also an All Wales Partnership and a Museums & Attractions Partnership. The Partnership Committees are advisory with no executive powers, and meet about every two months. Members are selected to give a wide range of relevant experience, not as representatives of various bodies, although they include many people who are already actively involved on waterway matters.

User Groups

The long-established User Groups in each Waterways Area will continue to meet twice a year to discuss issues of local concern. Each year one of these meetings will also serve as the ‘Annual Meeting’ of the Waterway Partnership and it will usually be chaired by a member of the Waterway Partnership. Where the Waterway Unit has more than one user meeting for the season the Waterway Partnership will attend each session.

Commercial Activities

Charities by law are not allowed to indulge in commercial activities. The practice adopted by CRT (as well as by the IWA) is to form a Commercial Trading Subsidiary(ies) to manage those aspects of the former BW’s operation, such as the marinas and the leasing of ‘non-operational’ property, and for this company to transfer its trading profits to the charity.

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Waterways Infrastructure Trust

The actual ownership of the waterways system is vested in a separate Trust so that, in the remote event of the CRT becoming financially insolvent or otherwise failing, the Government may transfer the management of the waterways to another charity. (The former BW’s non-operation property has been transferred to the CRT.)

Local IWA involvement

Vaughan Welch, who is West Midlands Regional Chairman (& thus an ex-offico member of the four branch committees within the Region) and an IWA Trustee, is a member of the CRT Area Partnership for West Midlands. Likewise Ivor Caplan, who is a member of West Midlands Region Committee and an elected IWA Trustee, is also a member of the CRT Area Partnership for West Midlands.

Both are elected, along with our present national chairman Clive Henderson, as boater’s representative members of the CRT Council. Vaughan and Clive are, respectively, members of the Navigation and Licensing sub committees of the Navigation Advisory Committee.

Elsewhere Harry Arnold, IWA Vice President and a member of Stoke-onTrent Branch, is a member of the CRT Area Partnership for Central Shires.

Whilst there are IWA officers who are members of the South East Waterway Partnership, Manchester & Pennine Waterway Partnership and the one for North Wales and Borders none are from the West Midlands Region which only covers a small proportion of each of these waterway units.

Autumn 2012

Canal & River Trust – Structure However, where we are underrepresented is in the membership of the South Wales and Severn Partnership, which covers a much bigger area of the Region than these other three, where there are no IWA officers within the Partnership membership albeit there are a couple of prominent waterway campaigners who also just happen to be IWA members.

These multiple allegiances must often seem confusing to IWA members — they are confusing enough to us! We just hope we never encounter a serious conflict of interest or suffer from certifiable schizophrenia.

After all, the aims of both the IWA and CRT are similar: to have a thriving, well-used waterway network; however there is a distinct and continuing role for the IWA as a totally independent membership organization, which is also concerned with the considerable section of waterways not under CRT management.

Vaughan Welch (with thanks to Peter Brown & Alan Platt of Shrewsbury District and North Wales Branch)

A ceremonial cake cutting at the recent launch of CRT in Birmingham

Autumn 2012

9.

Canal & River Trust Council, How has it been so far?

by Ivor Caplan

Readers of Navigation may be interested in my general ruminations on progress in CRT Council so far. Of course, this comes with a health warning, these are my views not representative of IWA (or RBOA, BCNS or any other organisation that I have an involvement with) nor of my fellow boaters’ representatives on Council. One aspect that I am sure we are in agreement, being on Council is a considerable challenge. As members we are part of the CRT organisation so have a responsibility to support its charitable objectives. We must use our knowledge and experience to help shape policy and provide guidance for CRT managers, plus we have a role monitoring the performance of trustees and will have an involvement in their appointment in future.

Those of us who have been directly elected also have some responsibility to represent the views of our constituents and to raise and debate their issues. As I cruise the system, I am delighted to meet many boaters. The conversation goes something like this “You’re Ivor aren’t you? I voted for you. What are you going to do about…?” Sometimes the complaint refers to a local problem such as a particular paddle that hasn’t been working for some time, please report this to your local manager and request a report back. We are looking at ways that the reporting system can be improved nationally. Often, a combination of comments from boaters point to more strategic matters and I will do my best to progress these. Time in Council meeting is very limited so it will often be done through informal discussion with 10.

the relevant CRT manager or a request for a future paper to Council.

As just one example, you will be aware of the controversy around the fitting of railings to unprotected lock tailgate bridges. Suffice to say that I support the action taken but although I would not expect the specific case to be discussed

by Council, I have requested information on the difficult balance between heritage, operational needs, health & safety and cost. The principles of consultation also emanated from this issue and I have prepared a paper for WM Region possibly for submission to CRT. What do we mean by consultation, when and with whom should it happen throughout CRT? Of course our primary role on Council is to support navigation, I tend to use that word rather than boating as it covers the wider benefit of having a good quality track, all visitors to the waterways like to see boats. To date there seems little argument about the primacy of navigation and our small pressure group representing boat owners and businesses is well supported by many others on Council, whatever their interests. However we must remain vigilant and question any decisions which could have a negative impact on navigation standards.

On the other hand, boaters will only be fully recognised if they in turn understand the wider vision of CRT and the need to move forward. I am still disappointed by those who grumble about past issues and maintain that boaters alone pay for Autumn 2012

the waterways. Government wouldn’t have committed £80million of taxpayers money to the waterways if only boaters mattered. So let us all understand that engaging with the wider community is essential to give us the waterways of the future that we all strive for.

As an example of how Council works, at the April meeting members received and debated a report on the management of water resources. We all know that since this was flagged up as a major concern it hasn’t stopped raining but the principle of ensuring that users are fully aware of the potential risk of restrictions is still valid.

We discussed and came up with advice for CRT management on the service level

that we expect. Restrictions from water shortage could be largely eliminated by improved reservoir holding, increased backpumping and replacement of leaky gates etc. but this has a considerable cost which has to prioritised against other operational needs. These are the difficult decisions that CRT management supported by Council will have to make.

Finally and I am sure that this also applies to my colleagues, do contact me if you wish to discuss any concerns that you have. I promise to listen, take whatever action is appropriate and to keep you informed.

Ivor Caplan

A boat load of dignatories at the recent launch of CRT in Birmingham.

Readers will recognise several familiar faces amongst the many marking the day at the start of a new era.

Autumn 2012

11.

Letters Lock Tail Bridges I read with interest the letters in the summer edition (together with comment elsewhere) about handrails on lock tail bridges. A number of the views have been, I’m afraid, way off beam.

First and foremost, the Trust’s safety policy is minimum intervention. Like you, we’re not “fence fanatics” looking to fence locks or stretches of waterway off at the drop of a hat. However, if fencing is needed, it will have been carefully thought about and takes into account our legal and moral duty of care to boaters and the general public.

Regarding the tragic death of the young lad in Stourport, I have taken responsibility for the actions we have taken to make safe a small number of lock crossings which did not meet the standards we have had in place for some time.

Forget for a moment that the boy was cycling (despite signs - I think I always obeyed signs when I was young!!). He could have been running, skateboarding, walking with shoelaces undone etc. It could have been a boater crossing who stumbled. It could have been a boater’s grandchild helping out with the lock. The fact is, there was nothing for an individual to hold or grab to just make the crossing that bit safer. Whether there are similar accidents or near misses occurring is irrelevant in a situation where a young boy died and the risk to others is clearly foreseeable.

12.

Ask yourself the question - where is there a lock crossing on the network that doesn’t have at least one handrail? If you know of any let me know, I will ensure that they are made safe immediately. It is basic safety, but unfortunately there were 20 odd on the Staffs & Worcs which for some inexplicable reason we missed.

This has now been rectified. However, we got stick for a poor design at Falling Sands Lock where, through consultation with local boating groups, we (that’s the staff on the ground in the Midlands) tried to compromise too much with various views put forward and, as a result, got the design wrong by reducing headroom unnecessarily. We changed the design when we realised the problem – interestingly the original design we had in mind would not have caused the problem!

Although with hindsight, wider consultation on design would have been helpful, the handrails had to be fitted as it was absolutely the right thing to do.

Going forward, I think the best way of improving engagement is likely to be through local waterway partnerships and through the recently announced Advisory Groups for both navigation and heritage. I know that safety issues and judgements together with conservation and maintenance will be aired, debated and explained there.

Vince Moran Operations Director, Canal & River Trust Autumn 2012

Letters Lock Tail Bridges I welcome the response from Vince Moran on the matter of handrails, and thank him for his efforts and encouraging remarks in his conclusion.

It is unfortunate that he thinks we are still ‘off beam’ in this – we actually agree with so much, and his introductory paragraphs are of course understood.

No one has accused anyone of being ‘fanatical’ as he implies – but we all accept that there must be a handrail at some of these ‘narrow’ foot-bridges, both to supply a solution for Stourport, and for OUR safety and convenience at other sites (notably at Awebridge – a very ‘hairy’ bridge to cross ).

We would particularly like to repeat our praise for the fairly swift redesign at Falling Sands lock – showing that with the right input, satisfactory outcomes result, without having to compromise.

Now that we know the West Midlands staff - Engineer Ian Lane and Manager Dean Davies, (thanks again for listening) we look forward to seeing further designs before implementation.

Before that, we also supported the official stance supplied for the Inquest, by (the then BW) Safety Officer, Tony Stammers and Waterway Manager, Nick Worthington.

Both very good statements representing BW’s responsibility for this otherwise sad purpose. I wish that our correspondence with other BW staff had resulted in appropriate replies rather than ‘it’s all to do with health and safety ...’ refusal to discuss detail with anyone else. We do know what the problem is! However, we must look forward, and our subsequent input to the design at Falling Sands suggests that an appropriate solution for Stourport will be forthcoming in due course.

Autumn 2012

Regarding the local or regional methods of consultation, Vince’s comments are re-assuring, but I still think that we need a generally understood national ‘principle’ that ANY work on structures should not result in encroachment into the ‘navigable window’ suggested by the original or neighbouring structures.

Observance of such a policy would have avoided re-designs in several instances over the years (width and depth as well as height!) – and would have resulted in reduced overall costs rather than increases often cited as reasons for ‘non-compliance’ with, to us, the obvious requirements.

We look forward to working together at the very beginning of problem solving – you don’t want us to be too critical any more do you now!

David W Struckett B,BC&W Branch

Stoppage on the Tame Valley Canal There has been a long running leak at Lock 7 on the Tame Valley Canal.

Previous investigations in July failed to find the source of the leak.

CRT are intending to drain the pound between Locks 7 & 8 for two days at the beginning of October to gain access to the old back-pumping system. It is hoped that this will expose the point at which water is leaking.

Whilst the leakage is not serious, without knowing how this is happening, it is difficult to predict if it is likely to get progressively worse.

13.

Social Events There are many social events (talks, slide shows, walks, etc) organised by the local branches and by other organisations in and around the Region. All are open to the general public. Below are listed just a few, please come along, enjoy and in doing so, show support. Many events provide refreshments, some are even in licensed premises.

Birmingham, Black Country and Worcestershire Branch For more information on talks, contact: Chris Osborn Tel: 01299 832 593 or e-mail: jcosborn@btinternet.com IWA Meetings at Coombeswood Canal Trust, Hawne Basin, Hereward Rise, Halesowen, West Midlands B62 8AW Starting at 7.15 for 7.30pm.

Date

Subject

Speaker

15.10.12

Lydney’s Lost Fleet

Paul Barnett

19.11.12

Grand Canal of China

Liam D’Arcy Brown

17.12.12

Christmas Buffet & Photos

21.1.13

Reminiscences of the BCN

18.2.13

Graham Wigley

Up-Date on the Lapal Canal by Peter Best, Chairman Lapal Canal Trust

Visitors are very welcome to come to any of these meetings.

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Autumn 2012

Lichfield Branch Meetings are held at College Hall, The Close, Lichfield Cathedral WS13 7LD Parking available close by, off Bird Street. 19.30 for 19.45 Contact Pat Barton, tel. 07947 337491 Thursday 4th October 2012 - Morning Walk at Norbury Junction.

A circular walk of about 3 miles from Norbury Junction on the Shropshire Union Canal, taking in the canal towpath to Loynton Moss Nature Reserve and then return across the surrounding fields to Norbury Junction, where an optional lunch is available.

Meet at Norbury Wharf (Post Code: ST20 0PN) at 10.15am for 10.30am start. (Note change of venue from Programme Card).Car parking is available at the Wharf. Ground level is easy with no stiles, but can be muddy in places so strong shoes/walking boots are advisable. Dogs are welcome but must be on a lead at all times.

For further details please contact Kaye Harrison on 07973 281728 or email kaye. harrison@waterways.org.uk Wednesday 17th October 2012 - Illustrated talk on ‘Canal Reservoirs’ by David Brown, Principal Reservoir Engineer, British Waterways. 7.30 for 7.45 pm at College Hall, The Close, Lichfield, WS13 7LD Wednesday 21st November 2012 - Illustrated talk on ‘Dutch Waterways and IWA Cruise’ by Tim Boddington. 7.30 for 7.45 pm at College Hall, The Close, Lichfield, WS13 7LD Wednesday 12th December 2012 - Branch Christmas Dinner. Venue to be advised.

2013 Tuesday 1st January 2013 - New Year’s Day Walk. Venue to be advised.

Wednesday 16th January 2013 - Illustrated talk on ‘The Norbury to Newport Canal Plans & Progress’.

Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust SOCIAL EVENING AT WHITTINGTON Saturday 20th October 2012 a musical evening with the popular folk/rock band, MEET ON THE LEDGE at Whittington Village Hall, Langton Crescent (off Main Street) Whittington The band, now celebrating their 20th anniversary year, have a history of playing at canal festivals, including this year’s “Stroud on Water”.

Start Time: 7.15 for 7.30pm Non-Members Welcome Bring your own drinks and glasses Tickets £12.50 includes FISH & CHIP SUPPER (other menu choices available) email Sue Williams, info@lhcrt.org.uk, or phone 01543 671427 Autumn 2012

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Stoke Branch Meetings are held at Stoke-on-Trent Boat Club, Endon Wharf, Post Lane, Endon, STOKE-ON-TRENT ST9 9DT Meetings will be held from the Autumn on the second Friday of each month until May 2013.

Contact is Alison Smedley MBE, Tel: 07779 090 915 Friday 12th October 2012, 7.45 for 8pm A Passion for Wooden Narrow Boat Restoration – Well known folk musician Tom Kitching tells of the rewards and pitfalls from his experiences of restoring Spey, a Thomas Clayton tar boat built in 1937.

Friday 9th November 2012, 7.45 for 8pm Narrow Boat through the canals of Amsterdam - Patrick Marks describes how he and wife Angela transported their boat to Holland, and their fascinating trip through the centre of Amsterdam in the company of Dutch friends.

Friday 14th December 2012, 7.45 for 8pm Canal Crafts with a Christmas Twist – Celebrate the approaching festive season with waterways friends and try your hand at a spot of canal painting, knot tying, rag rugging - and more!

Friday 25th January 2013, NEW YEAR DINNER Contact Barbara Wells on 01782 533856 Friday 8th February 2013, 7.45 for 8pm Navvies – the magazine of Waterway Recovery Group. Editor Martin Ludgate gives an insight into the work of WRG and the gathering of news about Canal Camps, Work Parties, and all volunteers restoring the waterways that enjoy getting

Warwickshire Branch Meetings held, second Wednesday in the month, at Sports Connexion, Rytonon-Dunsmore, CV8 3FL - just off A45 at junction of A423 and A445 Evening meetings start at 7.30.

Contact : Tina Jackson, Secretary, contact details on page 27.

The Rhodes Thomas Collections.

To contribute to the costs of archiving storage containers for storing the 22,000 or more slides in this collection; we are now starting to sell some of the hundreds of waterway, railway and industrial archaeology books also bequeathed to the Branch.

To date more than 90 of the books (raising nearly £900 !) have been sold – notably at the Braunston Historic Boat gathering last June. Surplus funds from this operation will be donated to midland-based waterway causes. Your next opportunity to browse and buy will come at the Bonded Warehouse on October 20th & 21st – see below for further details.

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Autumn 2012

Warwickshire Branch ▪ Wednesday October 10th. : ‘The Ashby Canal - Past Present and Future’

by Geoff Pursglove, Ashby Canal Project Officer.

After a gap of some ten years, Geoff returns to update us on what is now our nearest canal restoration - and one of the rare ones that is actually achieving progress ‘on the ground’. It’s also an ideal prelude to our November walk.

▪ Wednesday November 14th. : ‘Water Supply Management in Drought & Flood’

by Adam Comerford, Group Hydrology Manager CRT. As the 2012 boating ‘season’ comes to a close what could be a more appropriate topic to consider – and, in Adam, who better for us to consider it with.

▪ Wednesday December 12th. : ‘Social Evening’ and Quiz.

Following the successful format established last year, we will again have a chance to socialise informally, and to test our knowledge in a quiz arranged by Anthony and Richard. . . . and don’t forget the daytime walks: all 10:30am starts ▪ Tuesday October 16th : GU - Knowle Locks and Black Boy ▪ Saturday November 17th : Ashby Canal - Snarestone to Measham

Stourbridge Navigation Trust - Open Weekend Festival & Boat Rally Stourbridge Navigation Trust will be holding the 29th annual Open Weekend.

The event which runs from 10 am until 5 pm on both days will attract well over one hundred boats which will be moored along the historic Stourbridge Canal.

There is free admission to the site and there are a number of attractions which include classic vehicles, traction engines, amusements, canal boat trips, fairground organs and a craft fair in the Bonded Warehouse.

Starting

20th October 2012 10:00 am until 21st October 2012 5:00 pm Venue : The Bonded Warehouse Canal Street Stourbridge DY8 4LU Autumn 2012

17.

Stratford upon Avon Canal Society

Meetings are held at Village Hall, Wootton Wawen (B4089 opposite The Bull) Contact : Clive Henderson 01564 783672 or bridgehouse@onetel.com Visit : http://www.stratfordriverfestival.co.uk

Birmingham Canal Navigations Society Meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month at Titford Pumphouse, Engine Street, Oldbury B69 4NL at 19.30 Social Secretary : Geoff Peakman tel. 0121 559 7486 For talks on the BCN contact : Phil Clayton, tel. 01902 780920 / 07890 921413 phillipclayton@blueyonder.co.uk

BCNS Bonfire Rally 2012 Friday 02 November 2012 - Sunday 04 November 2012 BCN Society 21st Annual Bonfire Rally

The BCN Society is pleased to invite you to the 21st Annual Bonfire Rally. There will be the usual attractions of Live music and a Real Ale bar as well as refreshments and stalls.

On Saturday 3rd November we will have a “DIY� Barbeque and the

Bonfire and Firework Display

in the evening.

Boaters or Exhibitors can contact Barrie or find an entry form on the Website http://www.bcnsociety.co.uk - and visitors by Car or on Foot are also very welcome to join us for free for this special occasion.

Venue:Engine Arm, Galton Valley Contact:Barrie Johnson Phone:0121 422 4373 Email:barryjohnson7@tiscali.co.uk

Black Country Boating Festival Dudley

Black Country Boating Festival was held on 15 Sep - 16 Sep 2012 Windmill End, Netherton, Dudley No.2 Canal This is a boat gathering and community festival held during September each year in the Bumble Hole Nature Reserve, Windmill End, Netherton.

18.

Autumn 2012

Throughout the main cruising season many boaters have been enjoying the delights of the waterways. However cruising in certain areas, fortunately so far not that prevalent within the West Midlands, one often encounters numerous boats moored along the towpath that don’t appear to move; more often than not ignoring CRT mooring rules and possibly without up to date licenses and no mooring discs. To differentiate from the legitimate boaters who ‘continuously’ cruise around the system during the summer these boat owners have become known as Continuous Moorers Fine some might say but to avoid, deliberately or otherwise, paying their fees these people are sponging off the bona fide boater who regularly pays his/ her way and this is morally wrong. Like those who avoid insuring their cars for one reason or another, these people are effectively hiking the costs for the legitimate boater who presumably, like the insurance dodger, has to pay more to cover for the unscrupulous activities of these people as well as increasing Canal & River Trust’s costs. One assumes that to resolve this problem CRT will need to increase their staffing levels again bringing extra costs onto the bona fide boater using employees that would probably be better employed elsewhere.

Not only are most of these people not paying their full dues to the Canal and Autumn 2012

River Trust but they are probably not paying Council Tax to a Local Authority either; effectively not only sponging off the waterway users but also off their land based neighbours as well. One also doubts if their boat is properly insured either. However, this is less of a problem to the users because by not moving they are unlikely to damage other boats and the only loss will be theirs if something happens to their boat, and possibly also at some cost to CRT. Why has this been allowed to happen one may well ask? Well there may be many reasons but in some areas the problem has now got completely out of hand and not only do we need to see a strong commitment by CRT to stop this practice in its tracks, but we also need to see a visual reversal of this anti-social activity. Clearly at locations where this problem is well developed it is obvious what is taking place so it is easy for CRT to identify the problem and deal with it.

However this is not always the case as often these boaters are savvy enough to realise that on your own, or with one just other craft, it is not that obvious what one is up to ??

At last it would seem that CRT have finally realised the extent of the problem and that it is probably the most significant ‘growth market’ on the waterways.

They have recently intimated that it now intends to do something about it. Whilst they undoubtedly know the ‘hot spots’ they are probably unaware of those who try to hid in the numerous West Midlands canals like the BCN and its neighbouring waterways. With a considerable mileage and easy access to public transport these waterways are ideal for those who choose this way of life by hiding from officialdom cruising a regular circuit and returning to their favoured mooring spots on a regular basis. This breaches the conditions for a continuous cruiser and 19.

thus wrongly gives the genuine continuous cruiser a bad name.

Doubtless as they progressively take action against these people CRT would obviously like to learn of those who are effectively ‘hiding’, either in a backwater or regularly traversing a minimal circuit, from them. Mindful that genuine boaters are unwittingly supporting these unsocial activities I would encourage you to report, with substantiating evidence if you have it, to CRT all those who are obviously bending rules to the determent of other boaters.

KVW

Warwickshire Branch win ‘Branch Achievement Award’ At the national AGM, held in Chelmsford on September 29th , Warwickshire Branch was awarded the Association’s ‘Branch Achievement Award’ for 2012.

Factors considered in making this year’s award to Warwickshire included : • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Clive Henderson, National Chairman, (right) presents the Branch Achievement Award to Ian Jackson, Warwickshire Branch Chairman.

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Well attended Branch meetings, with diversity of relevant and interesting speakers.

Branch work parties, and early initiatives to support CRT at Lapworth and on the GU. Branch newsletter, funded without any support from national funds.

Active support for local events, such as Evesham and Stratford festivals.

Many individual prominent on committees.

members are IWA national

Picture on opposite page shows a group of Warwickshire Branch members, with Clive Henderson, after the presentation.

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Warwickshire Branch members present at Chelmsford pictured with Ian Jackson, Branch Chairman, holding the award.

Following Roger Savage’s resignation as Stoke Branch Chairman due to a combination of health issues and family obligations, the branch is currently chairman-less.

Roger will be an extremely hard act to follow.

In the meantime, Steve Wood and myself will be Acting Chairmen, in our current roles as Deputy Chairmen, as well as the other jobs we are doing (paid and voluntary!).

We are extremely grateful for the tremendous amount that Roger has done for IWA over the four years that he has been chairman. There have been many initiatives that simply wouldn’t have got off the ground without him being the driving force behind them – the Cheshire Locks Project, the Staffordshire Marquee at

Autumn 2012

the Burton-on-Trent Festival and the Staffordshire Waterways Group to name but three, quite apart from his involvement in Burslem Port through the many changes and developments there.

The branch has been even busier than usual over the summer, with our usual summer event activities augmented by a series of work parties in different parts of our branch area.

The first work party (the first to be run by the branch for 10 years!) was a clean up at Etruria. This was well attended and took place on a blazing hot summer day in the lead up to the Etruria Festival.

Much rubbish was collected, both on land and afloat, by volunteers using an aluminium boat supplied by the Canal & River Trust.

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This was closely followed by the Etruria Jubilee Canals Festival itself, which had been organised under the IWA umbrella for the first time, following the closure of the Etruria Industrial Museum. The Museum still faces an uncertain future, but it is hoped that through IWA the annual event will continue. The event was a great success, despite poor weather and conflicting events going on the same weekend – the flotilla of boats on the Trent and Mersey Canal was going on at the same time as was a rather larger pageant of boats on the River Thames!

The following weekend the branch held a Waterway Community and Volunteer Recruiting Day at Lock 51 on the Cheshire Flight, where bad weather meant there weren’t as many people out and about on the towpath as the previous time we held an event there, but we did manage to recruit some volunteers for work parties, which was the object of the exercise, as well as make a few sales and generally publicise the work of IWA. A week after that was the Middlewich Folk & Boat Festival, where we had the branch stall on the Salinae Field as usual, and did quite well on sales and the nail game, as well as generally promoting the Association and the Cheshire Locks project.

We then had a weekend off from branch events (although some branch members attended the Northwich River Festival, and others went to the Braunston Historic Boat Gathering, so it still wasn’t a canalfree weekend!)

Churnet Valley. Last year’s method of pulling and bagging was replaced this year by slashing the larger areas of the plant, which enabled greater areas to be tackled. The events, spread across July, were very well attended by locals as well as members of IWA and the Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust. They were organised in partnership with Stuart Collins, the Volunteer Leader for CRT Central Shires.

On 18th August the Cheshire Locks Project took a more practical step forwards, with the first of what is planned to be a monthly work party on the locks.

During a site visit earlier in the summer with Steve O’Sullivan and Hazel Mayow, the Volunteer Co-ordinator and Volunteer Leader respectively for CRT Manchester & Pennines, a detailed list of tasks to be carried out by volunteers between Rode Heath and Kidsgrove had been identified. The plan is to start at Rode Heath and work up the canal, so the exact meeting point for subsequent work parties will depend on how much gets done at the previous one. It is intended to then repeat the process for the section from Rode Heath to Wheelock.

The first work party was well attended with volunteers spending a lovely sunny day sprucing up Lock 54 at Rode Heath.

All the railings, bollards and parts of the lock gates were painted, as well as weeds cleared from cobbles around the lock quadrant, so by the end of the day the nine volunteers were all feeling very satisfied with the work achieved.

Alison Smedley Acting Branch Chairman

Then the following weekend we held the first of five Himalayan Balsam Bashing sessions on the Caldon Canal in the 22.

Autumn 2012

Forthcoming Cheshire Locks Work Parties: Saturday 20th October, 10am to 4pm, exact location to be confirmed, but probably Lock 52, Church Lawton Tuesday 20th November, 10am to 4pm, exact location to be confirmed, but probably Lock 51, Church Lawton Volunteers are advised to wear stout shoes and bring waterproofs, and a packed lunch if staying for the whole day.

For further information please contact Alison Smedley on 01538 385388, email alison.smedley@waterways.org.uk or see www.waterways.org.uk events listing for further details.

ke Mi se or o M

Our public meetings and events in Lichfield Branch area started up in September and behind the scenes our committee members have continued organising unabated. Two of the committee members have spent the ‘summer’ in London doing volunteer work in connection with London Olympics 2012. It is hoped that over £12000 will be ‘donated’ to central IWA funds by CRT thanks to the efforts of a small group of IWA volunteers who gave up several weeks of their time to man control points and mooring sites in London.

Autumn 2012

Other members, meanwhile, have been making the most of the improved weather to do some cruising.

Our Autumn / Winter programme kicked off in September . Firstly, on the 6th there was a resumption of our led walks. This one met at the Dog Inn in Whittington and took in part of Whittington Barracks (no live firing these days!!), Hopwas Woods and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal.

Then, on 19th September, was our first public meeting of the new season with Tom Kitching talking on ‘Restoring a wooden narrowboat’. This was at the usual location of College Hall in Lichfield, however, in the New Year, our meeting location will be changing, as from the January 16th meeting we shall be using Martin Heath Hall, Christchurch Lane (off Walsall Road) Lichfield. The hall is ideal for our purposes and the cost is less than we are currently paying at College Hall.

October will see another walk, this time at Gnosall on the Shroppie and the public meeting will be about Canal Reservoirs by David Brown, Principal Engineer for CRT. Then we have another walk on Thursday 1st November around Armitage followed by the public meeting on the 21st November with a talk

by Tim Boddington on Dutch Waterways and The IWA. Details of all these events and others are readily available on our programme cards and on the IWA website.

Our big event this year will be in November... over the weekend of 3rd / 4th November. After the National at Burton in 2011 a sum of money was donated for local canal based projects.

Lichfield Branch applied for £1200 and this was granted. This will be used to provide visitor moorings on Brindley Bank just outside Rugeley. The work party 23.

will be installing the necessary mooring rings etc. Future maintenance of the site (grass cutting etc.) will be carried out by members of Lichfield Branch of the IWA. Next item on the list, once I’ve left London and spent a month on the River Thames will be to find a suitable location for our Christmas Dinner on Wednesday 12th December. I thought maybe somewhere in Stafford might be a good idea this year, any ideas for a suitable location??

Lichfield & Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust have been excavating a staircase pair of locks (Nos. 27/28) at Darnford as the next phase of restoration.

It’s difficult to explain the 3-dimensional problems to be overcome here without a sketch. This is intended for readers who are not familiar with the Lichfield Canal project, and possibly for fans of “Idiot’s Guide to . . .” series of publications.

Anyone interested in more detail - and actual pictures - should join L&HCRT (from only £6 per year) and receive their “Cut Both Ways” magazine.

Origin al route

before

closure

in 1956

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Lichfield Canal Recent Restoration Work

Right, let’s see, you have to join up the canal route from point A to point B. They are different heights above sea level, and since it became derelict, some-one has built a dirty great dual carriageway in the way - at water level !!

You have to get under it, but first you have to drop the level of the canal with two locks. There isn’t enough room on the Lock 26 side of Tamworth Road (A), so first you have to burrow under that road. Life’s never easy.

Fortunately there is a park on the other side, so there are no buildings in the way, but there was a big sewer pipe.

First you get the sewer diverted, then you dig a big hole. A VERY BIG HOLE !

That’s where we are now. Looking at the sketch, the bridge under the Tamworth Road and the A38 are in the future, as are the two new locks (Nos. 27/28) and the one (No. 29) in the distance near ‘B’.

am T

A38

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Darnford

Staircase Locks Nos. 27/28

Park

A 24.

Lock 26 Autumn 2012

fell into the canal, the water putting his mobile phone out of action such that he was unable to summons help. I recall Peter making the point to me that the single most desirable improvement at locks would be a landing facility to make getting in and out of canoes safer and easier.

As I write this contribution to Navigation the Olympic Games have just concluded and a prominent aspect has been the waterborne events involving boats and rowing. I am reminded of two relatively recent boating events in which Warwickshire Branch was involved.

Last year Peter Woolsey kayaked from Kendall at the northern limit of the Lancaster Canal to Central London.

This was to celebrate his 70th birthday but it was also a re-enactment of an adventure first undertaken when he was a teenager. That in turn also reminded me of reading as a child the two Mark Twain classic books Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and their adventures along the Mississippi river in the USA. The other event involving young people passing by boat through Warwickshire’s inland navigable waters which comes to mind was the fundraising stunt by Cambridge University students in which they punted one of the university punts all the way from Cambridge to Oxford to raise funds for the Charity “Help for Heroes�.

Both events involved both escorted passage through tunnels and/ or portage around them. Peter Woolsey portaged around Locks whilst the very much heavier Cambridge punt along with camping gear involved the use of locks. I recall Peter Woolsey recounting a mishap early on in his adventure last year when, unescorted and getting out of his kayak to portage around a lock, he Autumn 2012

Another aspect of that event was when I made Peter aware of the sanitary stations and presented him with a BWB Key with which to gain access! Such luxuries did not exist on his earlier trip as a teenager. Both the little brick buildings and Yale-type access keys were an invention of the newly created Amenity Services Department of the then British Waterways Board under the leadership of the late Tony Grantham MBE. Due to vandalism and cost cutting

by BW/CRT some of the combined toilet and elsan disposal buildings are now disappearing, being replaced at best by an elsan disposal facility only. This will be a great loss to people in unpowered boats without their own facilities.

What you may ask is the point of my ramblings? It is this, over my lifetime the inland waterways have I suggest become far more a playground for well heeled older people rather than for the impoverished youngsters who 50-60 years ago fought so hard for their survival. There is I suggest plenty of scope for rowing-boats, canoes, kayaks and sailing boats to share the extraordinary diversity of our inland navigations and feeder reservoirs and at the same time improve the health of our young people and introduce them to our waterways, with the hope that in years to come they will go on to be enthusiasts ensuring survival of what we have and the fruition of many current restoration projects. In the current political and 25.

economic climate sport and adventure is one of the few aspects of waterways which might attract limited funding.

On a related point, “Navigation” suffers from a lack of feedback from our readers so how about some reader’s letters addressed to our editor with your ideas on how we can attract the youth of today to the waterways.

Max Sinclair was shortlisted for this award for his work on Droitwich Canals.

Clearly this was a great accolade for the decades of work Max and all the volunteers and partners have put in over the last 38 odd years.

The closing date for votes was 16th September. 5,142 votes were cast and the result is expected to be published shortly.

IAN JACKSON

E d i t o r’s Effort We are looking ahead to 2013 with a view to improving communications with our members. More and more, the printed word is being re-examined in this new age of e-books, Kindles, i-Pads, websites and blogs, etc, and we cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the ever changing world of publication.

Back in the days of David Hutchings, Navigation was all about typewriters, stencils and Gestetner duplicators. We have moved on. Is it time now to move on again ?

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English Heritage : Heritage Angels Award

In the next issue, the final edition for 2012, there may be news of the next generation of Navigation. Even with over 50 years of continuation, the West Midlands Region publication is not exempt from Darwin’s law of evolution.

Our last issue was something of an unknown entity; we knew what our new printing company said it would look like, but until it arrived, we didn’t quite know how it would actually turn out. In general, from the opinions we have received, the colour cover was a very welcome innovation. We hadn’t had that since 2004, when it ceased to be viable within our budget.

We hope you will take advantage of some of the large number of events listed in this issue. If you know of any local events we have missed, please let the editor know so that we can include them in the future.

It may have been the wettest “Summer” on record, but do have a good Autumn and look out for our next issue just before Christmas.

Autumn 2012

Contacts

Please submit your news, comments, letters, photographs and articles to : navigation@waterways.org.uk Contact : 0121 682 4230 The next issue, No. 2012-4 is due to be published in December 2012.

Your contributions and comments should be sent to the Editor, Allan Gilbert, by 31st October 2012

WEST MIDLANDS R E G I O N Chairman Vaughan Welch,

3 Beach Close, Northfield, Birmingham B31 3DB

Tel. 0121 477 9782

Mob : 07971 202406

e-mail : vaughan.welch@waterways.org.uk

Secretary Brian Kingshott, Park Cottage, Hopton Castle, Craven Arms,

Shropshire SY7 0QF Tel: 01547 530457

Mob: 07831 572642 e-mail : brian@park-cottage.fsnet.co.uk The Region is made up of these four branches : BIRMINGHAM,BLACK COUNTRY AND WORCESTERSHIRE BRANCH Chairman

Dave A Pearson Netherton Cottage 2 Netherton Lane, Bewdley DY12 1PT Tel. 01299 404273 or Mobile 0752 7197842 dave@daveapearson.com

Secretary Beckie Smith-Kearny

STOKE ON TRENT B R A N C H

Chairman To be announced

Secretary Alison Smedley

Hazelhurst Cottage, Denford, Leek

ST13 7JT

Tel. 01538 385388

alison@hazelhurstcottage.co.uk

Autumn 2012

LICHFIELD BRANCH Chairman Mike Moorse

Narrowboat Guelrose, Otters Holt,

Lichfield Road, Hopwas,

Staffordshire B78 3AE

Tel. 07799 140068

mike.moorse@waterways.org.uk Secretary Kaye Harrison

01952 814753

WARWICKSHIRE BRANCH Chairman Ian Jackson

20 Daventry Road, Barby,

Rugby, CV23 8TR

Tel. 01788 891545

Ian.jackson@mypostoffice.co.uk Secretary Tina Jackson

20 Daventry Road, Barby,

Rugby, CV23 8TR

Tel. 01788 891545

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Cover photos : Front : Kings Norton Stop Lock, currently undergoing refurbishment by CRT. The guillotine gates either side of Bridge No. 1 Stratford Canal are listed heritage structures.

Back cover : An on-site meeting with CRT to discuss a further stoppage for restoration work in November.

Boats pass through the lock without stopping; the term ‘stop lock’ is a historical title.

Primarily for the benefit of our members, Navigation is also distributed in a limited way for non-members to pick up and gain an insight into what’s happening in the Region and the aims and activities of the Association.

Membership of the IWA is open to everyone and companies and organisations can have ‘corporate membership’. Please see www.waterways.org.uk for your local contact to discuss joining.

Issue No. 2012-3

Autumn 2012